You know it's summer when....

...my mom makes a fruit pizza! Mmm.....it was in honor of my little sis being home for about a 12 hour period on the way to a wedding in Salina, KS. Pretty tasty. :)

Sugarland....

Last night my sister Megan and I went to an AWESOME concert at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. She flew in from Dallas and we went to see Sugarland, with Billy Currington and Matt Nathenson opening. It was a REALLY good concert! :) Here are some pictures:

After the concert, we went across the street to the Power & Light District and met up with some friends that had been to a Royals game before we went home. It was definitely the place to be in KC; seems like everyone in the city was there- very crowded; but fun!! Perfect to be able to be outside in the courtyard on a nice night.

Dip Day

At work, some of the therapists have organized a montly dip day. Everyone brings a dip...therefore, dip day. This is my first time participating and I thought, "What better to bring than THE BEST DIP IN THE WORLD?!?!?" So, when I got home tonight, I whipped up some corn dip; aka, ugly dip. Mmmm. I got the recipe from a friend when I was in graduate school and many of you have hopefully had the pleasure...in case you haven't, definitely give it a try! ;)

Here is the recipe....and a picture to explain why it is called "ugly dip" by some. Now, I must go prepare for the day of dips....there was talk about someone bringing 7-layer dip. What could be better to get us through Wednesday?!?!

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

8 ounces sour cream

8 ounces mayo

2 cans fiesta or mexicorn (drained)

1 can rotel (drained)

1 bunch of green onions

1 pinch of sugar

Memorial Day Weekend in Wichita...

I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day! I will be celebrating by working...can't complain too much; we'll get holiday pay. This weekend I made a quick trip to Wichita to see friends and go to a baby shower for Jenna, who I worked with when I first moved to Wichita. I drove back after the shower so I could work today, but it was a really good quick trip. The main theme of the weekend was BABIES!

Friday, we just hung out at my friends Kylie and Brady's house. I had my first "spaghetti pie" experience. Very tasty! I also had my first Fresca....how did I not know how tasty it is?!?! No calories....mmm....nice. It was good to see some friends and also get to see Kylie's cute kids! Lilah is spirited (which I love) and her new baby brother Graham is laid back and so sweet.

Kylie's cuties....

Had to capture Graham and Auntie Linds...both sporting white and green stripes. :)

Kylie and Mr. Graham hanging out...

Yesterday was a busy day (in a good way) and I got to see some more friends in Wichita. My friend Lindsay started a "Breakfast Club" since she likes breakfast and the movie "The Breakfast Club". I have yet to see the movie, but they let me eat with them anyway. We ate at "Egg Crate Cafe" for you local Wichitans....very tasty!

After breakfast....Lynnette, Molly with baby Elena at 8 months, Lindsay, me and Lyndsey.

I got my hair cut and then went to the baby shower for Jenna. The other speech therapist that works with Jenna is Libby. She had a little girl Madeline the end of April and I got to hold her during a lot of the shower. What a sweet baby! Jenna is due in July and they had a really nice shower for her.....I can't wait to meet baby Lily too! :)

Speech Therapist x 3....Me with Jenna and Libby. :)

The quilt I gave to Madeline...I don't think I took one of the one I gave to Jenna and Lily. I will have to get one. It's brown with dark pinks...

Madeline snoozing....Meeting Madeline for the first time...such a sweet baby. :)

Jenna getting to practice holding babies before she becomes a mama in July. :)

Take two....

I went to kickboxing for a second time....and lived to tell about it! I think tonight it was actually easier than last week!! Maybe we are making some progress here....I was sore for 3 days after the first one. Hopefully I can keep going.

Side note....I found out a girl at work wears bigger shoes than I do. Didn't know it was possible!! :)

Bob's Grill....open for business!!!

The past week, I have enjoyed one of the finer perks of living at home. My dad's grilling. He is a grilling maniac!!!! In the past week or so, he has grilled chicken breasts, pork chops, steaks, hamburgers, mushrooms, brats and tonight he attempted a new item- fish. Dad grilled some tilapia and mahi mahi and we made fish tacos. They turned out really well....if you like that sort of thing. We also got to try out the mango salsa that I bought at the farmer's market yesterday. Looking forward to more grilled items this summer....good work Bob!!

Meeting baby Emma...

Today I went to my friend Sam's house to meet her daughter Emma. So CUTE! Sam and I have been friends since meeting in Ford Hall freshman year at K-State. In December, she and husband Tony welcomed their first baby....Miss Emma. We have tried several times before to meet up, but for whatever reason, it didn't work out until today. Emma is 5 1/2 months and such a sweetheart. I got to hold her and she snuggled right up. :) She is getting her mama's pretty red hair and fair skin....Sam and I agreed that there will be freckles in her future. I hope to have kids someday that are as even-tempered as Emma. Here are a few pictures. Hopefully I will see them again sometime soon! :)

Warning: This is a SERIOUSLY good cookie!

I love chocolate. I love peanut butter. When chocolate and peanut butter come together = heaven. Last week at work, a physical therapy student brought in some cookies on his last day. He brought the recipe with him, as he somehow knew that we would all request it since these cookies made us go INSANE! I wanted to steal the whole bag of them and run into my office and lock the door!

So when my mom reported that she needs to take some cookies tomorrow for church, I volunteered to make these. (Yes, basically so I could eat one....or two....or....you get the picture). I want to warn anyway trying to lose weight or eat healthily, it would probably be in your best interest not to make these. I felt like I gained weight just being around them. Anyway, enough of that. Give them a try and enjoy!!

Magic Peanut Butter Middles (courtesy of Annette Mathias; no idea who this is, but bless her)

Dough:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup margarine

1 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

Filling:

3/4 cup peanut butter

3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

In small bowl, combine flour, cocoa, and soda; blend well. In a large bowl, beat sugar, brown sugar, margarine and peanut butter until light and fluffy, beat in vanilla and egg. Add combined dry ingrediens and mix well. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine peanut butter and confectioners' sugar. Blend well and roll into 30 1-inch round balls. For each cookie, with floured hands, shape about 1 Tbsp of dough into a flat "pancake". Place a peanut butter ball in the middle and mold dough around it to cover completely.

Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar. Bake in 375' oven 7 to 9 minutes, or until set and slightly cracked. Cool on wire racks. Makes about 30 cookies.

Batter up!

Last night was my first softball game in a co-rec league here in Topeka. Our name is the "Big Whiffers"....it's a team that my mom's co-worker's daughter organized, if that makes sense. It's mainly teachers that she works with at a local high school. Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I look forward to our games on Thursday thoughout the summer (especially now that Greys is over). I got on base with singles 4 out of 5 times (struck out the other time). I really like to bat. I however, do NOT like to be in the field. I used to play first, which was good, but a guy that has been on this team in prior years claimed it. So, I marched out to right field I (which is good cause not as many balls are hit there). In fact, only one ball was hit there all night. Therefore, I only threw a ball one time. We were tied 10-10 going into the last inning and ended up losing 17-14. Better luck next time!

Complaint filed...

If you have visited this lovely little blog in the past couple months, you may have noticed that there was a picture of me and two friends from a night out in March. I thought it was cute...apparently, they did not. :) So girls, the issue has been addressed and the alleged undesired picture has been changed out....hope everyone is okay with this one! Complaint resolved. :)

Kickin' it....

Tonight, I took the leap into starting up kickboxing again! Ugh...it....was....tough!!! I used to go during the summers in college (was in much better shape, coincidence...I think not) and it was a really good workout. So, after living in Topeka for 3 months now, I worked up the motivation to go today! After watching Biggest Loser, you would think that would have got me motivated during the season, but alas, today's the day!

I thought the whole thing was going to be a no go. Storms have been predicted all day and I thought if God threw down a tornado in my path, then I probably shouldn't go. He didn't, so I went. Then, the usual instructor called in sick and there wasn't a teacher. But a sub showed up a few minutes late, so we got started. Next, the microphone battery went dead....so surely then we would stop the torture, but the instructor just managed to yell for 30 minutes of kickboxing and 23 minutes of abs.

Will let you know how I feel tomorrow....I am guessing it's not going to be "good." Good news is, maybe if I go back again, it will be easier!!

That's not my Jon and Kate....

As many of you know (basically if you have ever had a conversation with me), I LOVE the show Jon and Kate Plus 8. It's about a couple that is married and have an 8-year-old set of twin girls and sextuplets that are five. What can I say? I'm a sucker for reality TV, the kids are cute and it's just a good little show!

Since I have spent a fair chunk of time watching the show, I feel like I know them pretty well so, I just wanted to clear up some horrible rumors going around saying that Jon has been cheating on Kate....and now there are rumors that Kate is cheating on Jon with her bodyguard. I refuse to believe it!!! Until Jon or Kate call me personally to confirm these vicious lies, I am going to continue to believe that it's the media just making stuff up! Let me know if anyone hears anything else!

Not enough hours in the day....anyone else??

It has been SO nice outside tonight! My dad "fired up the grill" and cooked steaks....very tasty. :)After work, I went to the gym and then my mom and I planted the rest of the flowers we got for Mother's Day yesterday. After those activities, and then eating some of Bob's cooking....we are about out of evening; ugh! Where the the time go?

I have about 8 things I want to be doing at this very moment; and yet, I am blogging. I have about 10 pages of a book to read before it's finished, a couple quilts to work on, an Oprah paused on the DVR and laundry to put away. Anyone else seem to have this problem?? It seems like at work sometimes the day creeps by and the second you are home, the clock speeds up?! I guess I just need to do one thing at a time; but that is not always my strong suit. However, I am looking forward to some more products from my dad's grill this summer....keep the nice weather coming!!

I love my mama...

I am one of the lucky ones. My sister and I somehow got the good fortune of getting a really good mom.....and today, I got to spend some quality time with her. Even though I am living with my parents for the time being, I don't get to hang out with them a lot, due to differing schedules, work, etc. Megan (my sis) and I got her a giftcard to Lowe's to pick out some flowers....so we spent the day looking there, as well as a couple other places. We found some great flowers that really make the house look nice. I will put some pictures below...

Things I have inherited from my mom:

-Crazy curly hair

-Fair skin

-Bird lips (well, my dad has those too....)

-Tallness (dad is too I guess)

-A love of cooking...and eating

-A passion for diet coke and chocolate!

-A shared love for Jergens hand lotion

-A SUPER loud sneeze

-Sentimental ways (we both cry at the drop of a hat)

-Stubborness

-A love for greeting cards

Now, I'm not saying that we always get along (by any means) but, I can truthfully say that I am blessed to have a funny, caring, thoughtful and spirited woman to call Mom. We love you Lou!!!

Mom and me at the wedding reception last night...

The flowers Dad bought Mom for Mother's Day....K-State colors!!

Some of the flowers we bought today....

A sweet treat to the end of a sweet weekend....strawberry shortcake. :)

***To wrap it up, here is a great story that wouldn't be possible without my mom. This is a fine example of why I love her!!! Yesterday, my parents and I went to Kansas City for a wedding. We went to Nebraska Furniture Mart to browse, grabbed some lunch and then headed south to Olathe for the wedding. I was in the front seat as my mom needed to change her shirt before the wedding. We were driving along and all of the sudden there was a strong, but pleasant, floral aroma coming from the back seat. I commented that I really liked the smell of whatever lotion mom was putting on....she pulled the bottle back out to brag about how she was venturing out of her comfort zone and using something other than her usual Jergens. Just as she was telling us she got this great little sample size bottle that they were handing out at Sam's, she looked twice and realized it was HAIR CONDITIONER!! I don't think we have laughed that hard in a long time....the funny thing is that the bottle is nearly half gone and she thinks her hands have been feeling softer lately! Lesson learned kids...check the bottle twice before you start smearing it on your hands! Happy Mother's Day Mom!!!

Welcoming spring with a new dish....

I'm not sure what caused me to want to make this....I have had it before, but today I decided to make "Strawberry-Spinach" Salad for dinner. Maybe it's all the great strawberries we've been eating lately, or just sometimes you need to have a good salad. I made chicken covered in crushed cornflakes and my favorite cornbread to go with it. Pretty tasty!

Here is the recipe I found online for the salad if you want to try it:

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

2 (6 oz.) bags baby spinach

1 (16 oz.) container strawberries, quartered

1 (4 oz.) package crumbled blue cheese

1/2 cup sliced toasted almonds

Bottled red wine vinaigrette

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Mix all together and serve.

Per the recipe, you can also substitute the almonds, blue cheese and red wine vinaigrette with pecans, goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette.

Adding to the bunch....

This weekend I went to Kansas City for a baby shower for one of my college roommates. I met Julie in the dorms our first weekend in college, the next day we bonded over a dinner at Wendy's and we went on to live together for 4 years after that first meeting. She and her husband Aaron are having their first little one soon! She is due with a little girl on June 1st....very exciting! With this little "pumpkin" as she called her, the count will be up to four (five in July with another roomie expecting) with kids my college roommates have had. I am excited for Julie and Aaron to start their family and to meet Pumpkin!

The parents-to-be opening a gift....
Katie (due in July with a little girl) and Julie hide Lindsay (my other offspring-less friend). Cute!

All the girls together again....doesn't happen nearly enough!
Good picture!

I made a little quilt for Julie's daughter and was finally able to give it to her at the shower! Hopefully it will be a soft spot for the little baby to rest.

It's not really crooked....it's draped over a chair.

I also got a chance to work on my cake decorating skills for the shower. The hosts for the shower are from Dallas, so I offered to decorate some cupcakes for the day to bring over....I liked the little ones with chocolate frosting. :)

It's a little baby buggy with wheels and a baby inside, complete with a binkie. I wasn't too pleased with how the brown turned out...it's really hard to get a dark brown or black. I will have to keep working on it! :)